Chuck D pioneered the art of merging the battle rap and political critique. In Chuck's construction he battled the FBI the way other rappers battled MCs. It was slick statement--Chuck was so beyond the competition that he'd gone beyond meta-battles to actual ones. El-P took that concept and ran with it, inverting it so as to say that he is as ruthless on the mic, as the American state is on the world-stage.

[El-Producto]I'm America arrogant!! Terminus verbal curfew murdersYou either purchase my products or you're worthless, that's my service!Don't look into the oculars of a daylight saverEraser, city-headed monument defacer comprising ofpatriot droids, sent into the void with lead liningsEmployed by the bureaucrats of automatic twisted rhyme timingYou're guaranteed nothing but my fat little fingerthat lingers one inch off of the big button -- LET'S START THIS!I'm Sarin gas, hide in your apartmentsI'm stealth like a robot hidden in the fat asshole of CartmanAnd give a crippling fuck like sand sharkskin condomto your apparent vaginal problem - the hottest shit on SoundbombingI'm American til infinite justice measure to Pesticide CemeteryInvite you to cross the border then SHIT on your divinitiesWhat language is that? I'm anguish in fact, tangle with astar-spangled standard issue gat for crowd managementTalk loud and get enshrouded in a hot cloud of harassmentby the crowd force of my mental pedestrian checker,that smashes subordinate skulls and update the file in your dental recordsYou tryin to get a light but yet the crowd is my paid hecklers (BOO! BOO!)You just stepped into the spectrum of paranoid word rainbowsThinkin you sick with a silhouette, burn transit cop out his plain clothesI'm America!! This is where the pain grows like poppiesin a Field of Dreams I paid for, I'll burn it down if operated sloppilyCOPY? My economic sanction rhyme style got your syllablesscraping for rice and riding in a pre-1960 jalopyMy favorite flavour of gas is mustardI'm fuckin a blind hermaphrodite icon and convincin you that it's justice!

I’ve mentioned a few times on these forums that I am a HUGE fan of Manu Chao, who is a European singer who grew up in France as a refugee of the Franco regime. He sings a lot of songs about social justice, (in Spanish, French, English, Portuguese, and sometimes Arabic and Wolof), and a recurring theme in his music is the plight or refugees and immigrants and displaced people.

I saw him in concert last September here in NYC, and I have to say, I was really blown away. Not only by the show, but more so by the audience. I kind of expected a bunch of aging chicano hipsters. You know, latino artists and professors and whatnot. Instead, the audience was overwhelmingly in their 20’s. Young 20’s. And I would say only about half the audience was latino. Lots of white kids. Lots of Asians. Quite a few non-latino black folks. Lots of mixed race couples and groups of young people.

And surprisingly, everyone seemed to be intimately familiar with his songs. No matter what language he was singing in.

Here he is singing a song at the show I attended, which he first recorded in 1998, about the plight of immigrants and refugees. He does a play on words here, protesting the term “illegal” or in Spanish “ilegal” to refer to those without papers, and instead refers to them as “clandestino.” Watch the crowd at minute 1:40-1:58. Wow. I guess these young people get it.

I walked out of this show feeling renewed hope about the youth of the USA.

Here is the original version of the song with a wonderful collage of images. Mostly it focuses on immigration to Europe, rather than the US. It is worth watching through to the end, with the final animation.

Quesi firstly sorry for the delay in reply but my life got briefly too complex to do listening justice

I just listened and read the english version lyrics...they really made me think.

I know it is easy to say from the monocontinent/country that is Oz but I have always cursed the monkey behaviour of borders.

We seem incapable of not practising exclusion. I completely understand the imperative, but recognise it as a curse. Overbreeding doesn't help either.Anyway Manu Chao's lyrics really drove home to me the moral injustice at the heart of criminalising the un-papered, and the life effect of that practise on those condemned to being illegals.

I have been footloose from day one and spent the first 10yrs of my in Oz geographical freedom, subjected to the very sad weak and pathetic example of this in the form of violent surf localism. Wherever I wandered (and I acknowledge my lotto win in being born into a time and political geography lucky country in my ability to wander at will) I encountered variations of violent localism prevalent in the 70-80s. Pathetic stuff really, but enough to sow the seeds of discontent with the idea that it is acceptable to limit any earthlings right to roam the planet as they will.

This is why I always greet any newcomer here with "greetings fellow earthling" I don't believe in borders ...although I cannot imagine a sane planet without them given our monkey fecundity.

So I thank you for a most pertinent post.

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"...but on a lighter note, demons were driven from a pig today in Gloucester." Bill Bailey

Thanks kin hell! I'm delighted to have cultivated another Manu Chao fan! BTW - he is an outspoken godless atheist heathen. And like all atheists, he cares nothing about the plight of humanity because he doesn't have the word of god to give him a moral code.

I'm not sure if I've linked this one before, but this is one of his songs in English. Very very simple animation.

This weekend I'm going to hear some not-so-loud political discontent via music at the http://www.clearwaterfestival.org/ . It is an annual festival, started in the 1960's by Pete Seeger, to raise money to help clean up and protect the beautiful Hudson River. Pete Seeger will be 93 years old this year.

My parents used to take me to see Pete Seeger in concert when I was a little girl. He was an old man then. And I'm not young. Here is a not-loud song of moderate discontent, sung with the courtesy and innocence of another era, in a different set of circumstances. As in about 7 decades ago.

Sorry that that song DID NOT fit the category. But it provides an insight into the past that shaped our present.

Thanks for starting this thread. I'm enjoying familiar songs, and some new ones too.

Also, Kin Hell, I keep thinking your name needs a F' in front of (F'kin hell), I think it'd be perfectly apt for a discussion on political discontent...or discontent in general.

I'm quite a big fan of Brian 'Yap' Barry's stuff. He was in an Irish Nu Metal Band called One Minute Silence and they were political in themselves. Once they split up, the lead singer, Brain 'Yap' Barry went on to join the performance poetry scene and became a 'slam' poet and his content is very political and he started up a project called 'Pink Punk', where he got involved with other folk and even doing some material with poet Kate Tempest (there's a story to follow below). Yap pretty much inspired me try write my own poetry, like that I posted in my writing thread a while back.

Here's 'Yapolitical', I think its 'message' is made clear, so I probably don't need to explain it.

On the note of Kate Tempest, I never knew her by name, because on the 'Pink Punk' album she's on, she's referred to as her old stage name. The students' union at the university I went to was running a spoken word event where the headline act was 'Kate Tempest' and they asked for my storytelling group to be the opening act and we tried coming up with material relevent to the audience (remember, storytelling is a 'folk' thing, so we kinda had to modernise our act and make it relateable). I was clueless as to who Kate Tempest was right up until the point I heard her do the sound checks and I was like, "no fucking way". Googled her to confirm my suspicions, ran over (after the sound test had finished) and told her how awesome she is, but probably sounded like a lunatic at the same time. It was a nice surprise.

It's not music, but this is Kate Tempest:

I feel I should finish with 'One Minute Silence', Yap's old band (which have reformed now). This one is to do with religion, so great for this forum really.

"Years later, she found herselfMississippi bound to helpStop the legalized lynching of Mr. Willy McGee.But they couldn't stop it,So they thought that they'd talk to the governor about what'd happenedAnd say, "We're tired of being used as an excuse to kill black men."But the cops wouldn't let 'em pastAnd these women, they struck 'em as uppitySo they hauled 'em all off to jailAnd they called in protective custody.Then from her cellShe heard her jailersGrumblin' about "outsiders".When she called 'em outAnd said she was from the south, they shouted,"Why is a nice, Southern lady makin' troubleFor the governor?"She said, "I guess I'm not your type of lady,And I guess I'm not your type of Southerner,But before you call me traitor,Well it's plain as just to say (?)I was a child in Mississippibut I'm ashamed of it today."

It gives me goose bumps every time I hear it. The song actually features Anne Braden herself talking in old interviews.

I'm unable to post any links from this PC, but my favourite ever album is 'Diesel and Dust' by Midnight Oil. It got me thinking seriously about the way I feel about indigenous Australia. No mean feat considering I was a 14 year old brat when it came out. Plus the music is fantastic.

"Why is a nice, Southern lady makin' troubleFor the governor?"She said, "I guess I'm not your type of lady,And I guess I'm not your type of Southerner,But before you call me traitor,Well it's plain as just to say (?)I was a child in Mississippibut I'm ashamed of it today."

It gives me goose bumps every time I hear it. The song actually features Anne Braden herself talking in old interviews.

...it's a classic example of the lack of intellect required to be a fascist thug that the neo-nazis thought the Angelic Upstarts represented them.And telling that the only way AU could stop the fascists from attending their concerts was to promise (and deliver) violence....

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The Upstarts, like Sham 69, were plagued for a while with a small neo-nazi following but this has now come to an end after it was made clear that the fascists would be confronted physically if they continued to attend their concerts. How far-right boneheads could even think that the Upstarts shared the same grubby politics as them remains a mystery. One of the band's greatest sides is "I Understand" which was a classic reggae-punk crossover that dealt with the plight of the Rasta Richard Campbell, whose death in custody was another mysterious occurence.

Some people might get some pleasure out of hate Me, I've enough already on my plate People might need some tension to relax Me, I'm too busy dodging through the flak What you see is what you get You've made your bed, you better lie in it You choose your leaders and place your trust As their lies wash you down and their promises rust You'll see kidney machines replaced by rockets and guns And the public wants what the public gets But I don't get what this society wants

When I try to sleep at nightI can only dream in redThe outside world is black and whiteWith only one colour - deadOh Biko, Biko, because BikoOh Biko, Biko, because BikoYihla Moja, Yihla Moja-The man is dead

I'm unable to post any links from this PC, but my favourite ever album is 'Diesel and Dust' by Midnight Oil. It got me thinking seriously about the way I feel about indigenous Australia. No mean feat considering I was a 14 year old brat when it came out. Plus the music is fantastic.

...well bloke you offer up a well tainted chalice with that one

I was an staunch Oils fan living within walking distance of the cross where they early days played at the manzil room .

To watch Peter Garret (lead singer for those who don't know) over the years, go from a potent voice to an utter disgrace of a hypocrite politician has been one of life's disappointments.

Most Oils fans who connected with the Oil's political content would now have to ask was Garrets earlier positioning only a lie, a clever cynical niche market positioning of his band to garner the greatest following?

Because his 180 degree sellout political showing has been the biggest public green betrayal of ideals since Lord Melchett.[1]

(the former director of Greenpeace UK), started work at the PR firm Burson Marsteller. Burson Marsteller's core business is defending companies which destroy the environment and threaten human rights from public opinion and pressure groups like

« Last Edit: June 19, 2012, 02:58:28 AM by kin hell »

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"...but on a lighter note, demons were driven from a pig today in Gloucester." Bill Bailey

This will be my first attempt at embedding a video so I'll also post the lyrics. It protests against Bush, oil companies, and other things.

Linkin Park - Hands Held High

Turn my mic up louder, I got to say something. Lightweights stepping aside, When we come in. Feel it in your chest, The syllables get pumping. People on the street, They panic and start running. Words on loose leaf, Sheet complete coming. I jump on my mind, I summon the rhyme I'm dumping. Healing the blind, I promise to let the sun in. Sick of the dark ways, We march to the drumming. Jump when they tell us They want to see jumping. Fuck that, I want to See some fist pumping. Risk something. Take back what's yours Say something that you know They might attack you for Cause I'm sick of being treated Like I had before. Like it's stupid standing for What I'm standing for. Like this war is really just A different brand of war. Like it doesn't cater the rich And an abandon the poor. Like they understand you In the back of the jet, When you can't put gas in your tank. These fuckers are laughing their way To the bank and cashing their cheque Asking you to have compassion and to have some respect.

For a leader so nervous In an obvious way Stuttering and mumbling For nightly news to replay And the rest of the world Watching at the end of the day In the living room laughing Like what did he say?

Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen

In my living room watching, But I am not laughing. Cause when it gets tense, I know what might happen. The world is cold, The bold men take action. Have to react, Or get blown into fractions. 10 years old is something to see, Another kid my age drugged under a jeep, Taken and bound and found later under a tree, I wonder if he thought the "next one could be me". Do you see? The soldiers they're out today. That brush the dust from bulletproof vests away. It's ironic, At times like this you pray, But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday. There's bombs in the buses, bikes, roads, Inside your markets, your shops, your clothes, My dad, he's got a lot of fear I know But enough pride inside not to let that show. My brother had a book he would hold with pride A little red cover with a broken spine. In the back he hand wrote a quote inside, When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.

Meanwhile, the leader just talks away Stuttering and mumbling For nightly news to replay And the rest of the world Watching at the end of the day Both scared and angry Like what did he say?

Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen.

With Hands Held High Into a sky so blue As the ocean opens up To swallow you.<repeats>

"I write my lyrics on parking tickets and summons to the courtI scribbled this on an application for county supportI practice this like a sport, met Donald Trump and he froze upStanding on his Bently, yelling pimps down, hoes up"

And it also features one of my favorite lines ever:

"The trees we got lifted from made our feet dangleSo when I say burn one I mean the star spangled."

But this is probably my favorite track from the Coup:

They were all about income inequality before white dudes with dreads were camping in parks and what not.

"I heard recognize game when it's in your faceI'm spitting the game so close to you, you could feel the wet traceIf everybody in the hood had a Ph.D.You'd say that doctor flipped that burger hellof good for me200,000 brothers marching, one mind, one place to goAin't no revolution, they just walking to the liquor storeHeard take a swigger so, it's quicker broThe niggero just wants to get through the rigamaro, I been here beforeA typical ho ain't really no differentExcept that she would know that can't no prostitute become a pimp up in this systemIt'd be more drama than a soap opera daytime spotBut ain't no twist up in this cemetary plot"

I still rock this on cassete, the old blue one, because I'm what the kids call an "old nigga."

To add some more, Dead Kennedys were very political, as most punk bands were, but I'm not really a punk fan, but the Dead Kennedys were awesome in my opinion. My Dead Kennedys song choice? I've gone for 'Kill the Poor'. I think they had a certain madness that's just so loveable.

As for the Sex Pistols, I've never been a fan of their music, but I tip my hat off to them for this:

We were gonna blast out Sex Pistols during the Jubilee celebrations in tribute this year, but instead we settled for raising the Jolly Roger in our front garden. Our neighbours already hate us, so might as well give them a reason to.

However, here's another band I really love, Skunk Anasie and they really are awesome. Their song 'Selling Jesus' fits the bill for this thread. I'll post the song and lyrics.

Quote from: Skunk Anansie

You kill me with your smelly fingersYour smelly fingers from the sex you had on Christmas DayAnd now you say you're feeling guiltyYou're feeling guilty 'cos your god was shining on your faceYou go to church and light a candleAnd then you're blinded by the light from the golden pewsThe devil's snapping at your toes nowBecause the angels can't be bothered to live to you

You're buying this you're buying that nowYou're wishing all the money in the world belonged to youYou're crucified upon you're own cross nowYou're givin' money to the white men in the white limoThat kind of god is always man-madeThey made him up then wrote a book to keep you on your knessThey get their theories from the same placeThen build a church if there's some money leftFrom lying on the beach

I grew up with punk and metal. As a guitar player, I always preferred metal musically, but loved alot of punks attitude and aggressiveness. Most of the concerts/shows I went to in the early 80's were either punk rock or one of the more extreme metal bands of the time. I have all my ticket stubs of every show I have ever been to. Iron Maiden/Saxon in 1981, Metallica/Raven in 1983, Slayer 1984 etc. etc. I can't say I was a big fan of Crass musically, but their lyrics were always top notch. Their music was everything from straight hardcore punk to poetry over noise. This is "Reality Asylum" from Crass. I always loved the last line of the lyrics-"Jesus died for his own sins, not mine".

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I am no feeble Christ, not meHe hangs in glib delight upon his cross, upon his cross,Above my body, lowly meChrist forgive, forgive?Holy He, He holy, He holy?Shit He forgives, Forgive? Forgive?I? I? Me? I? I vomit for you JesuChristy ChristusPuke upon your papal throneWrapped I am in the muddy cloudOf hellish genocidePetulant childI have suffered for youWhere you have never known meI too must dieWill you be shadowed in the arrogance of my death?Your valley truthWhat light pass those pious heights?What passing bells for these in their trucks?For you lord.You are the flag-bearer of these nationsOne against the other that die in the mudNo piety. No deityIs that your forgiveness?Saint. Martyr. Goat. Billy.Forgive? Shit he forgivesHe hangs upon his crossIn self-righteous judgmentHangs in crucified delightNailed to the extend of His visionHis cross. His manhood. His violence. Guilt. Sin.He would nail my body upon his crossAs if I might have waited for him in the gardenAs if I might have perfumed His bodyWashed those bloody feetThis woman that he seeksSuicide visionary. Death reveller. Rake. Rapist.Gravedigger. Earthmover. Lifefucker. Jesu.You scooped the pits of AuschwitzThe soil of Treblinka is rich in your guiltThe sorrow of your traditionYour stupid humility is the crown of thorn we all must wear.For you. Ha. Master. Master of gore. Enigma. Stigma. Stigmata. Errata. Eraser.The cross is the mast of our oppression.You fly there, vain flag.You carry it, wear it on your back, Lord. Your back.Enola is your gaiety.Suffer little children (to come unto me)Suffer in that horror. Hirohorror. Hirrohiro. Hiroshimmer. Shimmerhiro.Hiroshima. Hiroshima. Hiroshima. Hiroshima.The bodies are your delightThe incandescent flame is the spirit of itThey come to you Jesu. To youThe nails are the only trinityHold them in your corpsey gracelessnessThe image that I have had to sufferThese nails at my templeThe cross is the virgin body of womanhoodThat you defileIn your guilt you turn your backNailed to that bodyLame-arse Jesus calls me sisterThere are no words for my contemptEvery woman is a cross in filthy theologyHe turns His back on me in His fearHis vain delight is that pain I bearAlone He hangs. His choice. His choiceAlone. Alone. His voice. His voiceHe shares nothing, this ChristSterile. Impotent. Fucklove prophet of deathHe's the ultimate pornographyHe. He. Hear us JesusYou sigh alone in your cockfearYou lie alone in your cuntfear.You cry alone in your womanfear.You die alone in your manfear.Alone Jesu, aloneIn your cockfear. Cuntfear. Womanfear. Manfear.Alone in your fear. Alone in your fear. Alone in your fear.Your fear. Your fear. Your fear. Your fear. Your fear. Your fear. Your fear.Warfare. Warfare. Warfare. Warfare. Warfare.Jesus died for his own sins. Not mine.

Oh man I fucking love Saxon, they played Wacken both years I went and are playing this year (which funnily enough I'm going to). Definitely one of those bands who are much better live. Saxon are one of my family's claim to fame, because my grandad used to do some of their accounting. My uncle is a massive fan of their's too. He also went to a lot of Maiden and Saxon gigs in the 80s.

I pretty much grew up on metal and blues, kinda handy when one parent is a metal head and the other Gary Moore's biggest fan. :p however, most of the metal they listen to now has been introduced to them by their kids.

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“It is difficult to understand the universe if you only study one planet” - Miyamoto MusashiWarning: I occassionally forget to proofread my posts to spot typos or to spot poor editing.

Oh man I fucking love Saxon, they played Wacken both years I went and are playing this year (which funnily enough I'm going to). Definitely one of those bands who are much better live. Saxon are one of my family's claim to fame, because my grandad used to do some of their accounting. My uncle is a massive fan of theirs too. He also went to a lot of Maiden and Saxon gigs in the 80s.

I pretty much grew up on metal and blues, kinda handy when one parent is a metal head and the other Gary Moore's biggest fan. :p however, most of the metal they listen to now has been introduced to them by their kids.

That's cool. The Maiden/Saxon/Fastway show was my first concert when I was 12. I spent the summers in my teen years in Los Angeles (I lived in Las Vegas) and my best friend and I would spend all of our time scouring the endless cool record stores for new bands and we would try to go to as many shows as we could. Once we had discovered Slayer/Metallica/Exodus and bands like that, we just wanted to find heavier and heavier music. I'm still best friends with all the guys I used to jam with. I'm not in a band anymore. I mostly mess around with my home studio. They still play. They are into the whole brutal death metal scene. I'm more into programming synthesizers and different things. I'm sure you have heard of Napalm Death? The guitar player Mitch is from Las Vegas. He was one of my best friends in high school. He lives in Birmingham now.(he joined ND in like '90 or '91) Whenever you or Death over life post in the "what are you listening to" thread, I always check it out. You guys seem to be pretty up on the metal scene. I'm pretty picky these days. My favorite band in the world is Meshuggah. I spend a lot of time learning their songs both on guitar and drums. LOL I almost obsess on it sometimes. Cheers!

I love Napalm Death, seen them live once, they're always good fun. Also Meshuggah are great, but I've not actually listened to a great deal of them. But nice one! My best friend in secondary school? He became a racist tractor driver who votes BNP. :/ Saying that, I think he got the sack last I heard.

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“It is difficult to understand the universe if you only study one planet” - Miyamoto MusashiWarning: I occassionally forget to proofread my posts to spot typos or to spot poor editing.